ORION (the Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network) is an advanced, ultra high-speed optical research and education (R&E) network infrastructure in Ontario. Established in 2002, ORION connects virtually all of Ontario's research and education institutions, including every university, most colleges, several teaching hospitals, public research facilities and over 20 school boards to one another and to the global grid of R&E networks using high-speed optical fibre.

Spanning 5,800 kilometres to 21 cities throughout Ontario, ORION brings leading-edge network capability to Ontario's publicly funded R&E community and is a catalyst for creative and innovative next generation Internet applications. Over 85 organizations connect to ORION. Over 1.3 million Ontario students and some 75,000 faculty, researchers and staff currently access the network.

ORION is part of the global community of advanced research and education (R&E) networks, including Intenet2 in the United States and CANARIE, Canada's advanced network.

Among the projects that it supports, ORION enables the SHARCNET distributed computing initiative, by providing dedicated high-speed connectivity linking the computational resources of 16 post secondary and research institutions throughout Ontario. Members of the HPCVL high-performacne computing consortia, based at Queen's University, are also interconnected ove rthe ORION infrastrcuture.

ORION hosts the annual Ontario Research and Education Summit and bestows the annual ORION Award, to recognize individuals and groups who have led and championed the use of advanced and collaborative technologies to support research, education, innovation and discovery here at home in Ontario or on the global stage. ORION also hosts the orionXchange, a mini "portal" created as an information and community space for researchers, educators and learners.

ORION is owned and operated by the Optical Regional Advanced Network of Ontario (ORANO), a not-for-profit corporation governed by a Board of Directors which includes representatives from the fields of education, research and business. ORION was initially funded by the Government of Ontario, with additional funding from CANARIE, as well as private and public sector organizations and institutions. ORION is a self-sustaining organization, generating revenue from its connected institutions through user access fees.

Learn more about ORION by viewing these documents:

Connected Together
Connecting Ontario School Boards
Brancher les conseils scolaires ontariens
ORION Network Map
ORION NOC Poster
Who's Connected
Success Stories
2009-10 User Access Fee Schedule
2009-10 School Board Access Fee Schedule
VLAN Service Information Sheet
ORION Services
Acceptable Use Policy
ORANO Profile
Background to Research Networking in Ontario